Article October 3, 1908 Issue

THE UNREALITY OF MATERIAL SENSE

L. L. KIMBALL

In striving to gain such a clear sense of the unreality of the material world as to enable one to grow into at least a partial realization of it. Christian Scientists often allude to this human experience as a dream; and our beloved Leader refers many times in her various writings to the "Adam-dream." The difficulty of putting aside sense testimony and turning away from a belief in the seeming to a realization of the truth of Mind's creation, has been somewhat lessened for the writer by a recent dream, and it is with the earnest hope that what follows may help some other traveler to climb over this stumbling-block, that the experience is written.

With that inconsequence which is characteristic of our experiences during sleep, I found myself standing on a wide shelf-like flooring in an enormous brick building. The floor did not reach to the fourth side of the inside wall, so that from this great shelf-like place I could look far down to the first floor of the building, where horses, wagons, and men were seen. The sense of shrinking away from the edge of the shelf was most distinct, and I drew back from the place whence I had looked down, with a shudder. The only person who seemed to be on the shelf with me was a casual acquaintance, and presently, for no apparent reason, I flung my handkerchief out over the edge into the large open space, and again I shivered and felt a throb of nausea as I made some comment to my companion on the horror of falling from such a height.

After a few moments we spoke of going down to the ground, and she called my attention to a small door over in one corner, which on being opened revealed a dark and narrow spiral stairway made of iron and entirely cased in. We discussed the smallness, inadequacy, and darkness of this mode of exit from our shelf, but finally decided that we must use it, since no other way of getting down was apparent. We stepped through the small door with some reluctance, my companion going first, and began to descend. The chill of a small iron hand-rail struck me as I took hold of it, and I noticed that the top wall of the staircase was made of a rough gray mortar and seemed quite near my head.

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